Don’t worry, you still have until April 15 to submit your film to the festival, but we wanted to share some of the great films we’ve already locked down for the 2016 festival. One of the things we love about our festival is the diversity in our genres, filmmakers and the subjects they cover, and this year is shaping up to be no different.

Many of these films screened at Sundance and are on the program at SXSW, as well as other festivals around the country. We’re looking forward to welcoming some of the cast and crew of these projects to Bloomington this summer, so there will be no shortage of talented filmmakers to meet at this year’s fest.

These are just our featured films- we still have plenty of programming space left, so submit your films by April 15.

THE FITS- Anna Rose Holmer

[THE FITS is a psychological portrait of 11-year-old Toni—a tomboy assimilating to a tight-knit dance team in Cincinnati’s West End. Enamored by the power and confidence of this strong community of girls, Toni eagerly absorbs routines, masters drills, and even pierces her own ears to fit in. When a mysterious outbreak of fainting spells plagues the team, Toni’s desire for acceptance is twisted.]

The Hollywood Reporter writes in a review: “Refreshingly, the writer-director declines to draw the usual picture of poverty, drugs, crime and lack of parental supervision that often seems obligatory with a low-income urban setting. Instead, the film remains tightly focused on Toni as she filters and processes her experiences in an environment both familiar and foreign to her.

Some of the cast and crew will visit Bloomington to share their experience of making the film with the Middle Coast audience.

MA- Celia Rowlson-Hall

This film uses no dialogue and modern dance to tell the story of a modern day virgin Mary, traveling to Las Vegas to give birth.

Variety raves: “Ma” is a specialty item even by festival standards, and yet without so much as uttering a word, this microbudget labor of love augurs an exciting new voice.

THE ALCHEMIST COOKBOOK- Joel Potrykus

[Young outcast Sean has isolated himself in a trailer in the woods, setting out on alchemic pursuits, with his cat Kaspar as his sole companion. Filled with disdain for authority, he’s fled the daily grind and holed up in the wilderness, escaping a society that has no place for him. But when he turns from chemistry to black magic to crack nature’s secret, things go awry and he awakens something far more sinister and dangerous.]

Indie Wire flagged the film as a “hidden gem” in this year’s SXSW lineup, and we love supporting filmmaker Joel Potrykus because he’s a midwest filmmaker, based in Grand Rapid, MI.

LADY PARTS- Katrina Day

We are so excited to screen episodes from the hilarious web series, Lady Parts. This feminist look at the film industry pokes fun at the sexist realities of being a woman trying to make it in the entertainment industry.

Director of the series and NYC based actress Katrina Day started a Tumblr to chronicle the sexist casting calls she found, and it morphed into the web series. The series is one of those that you’ll just binge and binge because each episode is short and funny, but in the way that that jokes are so true it’s better to laugh to keep from crying.

Day plans to attend the festival so get ready for a hilarious Q&A with this talented filmmaker.

THE PROCEDURE- Calvin Reeder

This short film is about a man forced to endure an experiment, and no big deal, it won the award for Best U.S. Fiction Short Film at SUNDANCE.

Director Calvin Reeder has experienced a lot of success with his films that defy the normal genres. His films showcase a mix of horror, existential themes and lo-fi cinematography, making his work truly unique.

The discussion around the lack of diversity in Hollywood dominated the 88th Academy Awards Sunday. Host Chris Rock and other Hollywood elite spoke out against the fact spoke out against the fact that we aren’t seeing people of color, women or scripts that tell unique stories represented at the awards show.

As an independent film festival, we put a lot of energy into choosing our programming to allow diversity in terms of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, subject of story and location. We think it’s boring if every film at Middle Coast tells a similar story with similar characters, which is why you can expect to see the best of all genres and artists at our festival.

Our staff took on the issue in a short film we called #OscarSoWhite:

This conversation was EVERYWHERE leading up to Sunday’s show, but did you find yourself saying “yea, there were surely a lack of diversity, but what deserving artists and films weren’t on the list?”

Here’s our list of some of our favorite films from last year that weren’t recognized last night.

Beasts of No Nation

This film is phenomenal and Idris Elba’s performance was stellar. He would have been a competitive nominee in an acting category.

Chi-Raq

Spike Lee’s politically driven films often don’t fare well during awards season, but Chi-Raq’s cast gave some great performances, especially previous Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson. That characters in this commentary on gun violence in Chicago’s South side will definitely draw you in.

Tangerine

This comedy stars two trans-gender actresses who tell the hilarious story of female friendship through the lens of confronting a cheating boyfriend. Actress Mya Taylor has gotten so much love in the independent film world, including a Film Independent Spirit award for best supporting actress. This was our audience favorite at the 2015 festival and we hope films like this will eventually break into the mainstream.

Sicario

First of all, this movie is just so good for many reasons- fantastic script, great acting and superb cinematography. Before the Oscar nominations were announced, there was a lot of talk of Bencio Del Toro being nominated for supporting actor for his complex portrayal of a Mexican ex-prosecutor helping the FBI with a cartel investigation.

Ex-Machina

Ex-Machina won an Oscar for its visual effects, but Guatemalan born Oscar Issac should have been on the list for Best Actor for his chilling performance in this science fiction thriller. He also got no recognition for Inside Llewyn Davis where he showed a different side to his acting range.

Creed

Michael B. Jordan’s performance in Creed was intense, dynamic and a lot more interesting than some of the nominees. We hope to see this talented actor get recognition eventually.

2015 was good to Middle Coast. We hosted our third and biggest festival yet, and met incredible filmmakers from around the world and shared their work with our beautiful community in Bloomington, Ind.

It was also a year that gave us plenty of fantastic films to watch- so many our festival director, Jessica Levandoski, had trouble narrowing down her list of favorites (seriously, there’s 29 films listed below).

Levandoski is a film producer and founder of our festival, and a bona fide film nerd. Here is her list of the best films of 2015.

Tangerine

Meadowland

Selma

Grandma

Clouds of Sils Maria

Beast of No Nation

White God

James White

The Tribe

It’s been 18 days since Thanksgiving, so if you’ve left your home or turned on TV you’re aware: Christmas spirit has been unleashed.

And unlike Christmas music, which can get a little stagnant, the amount of movies set around the holidays is almost ENDLESS.

So we’ve created a list of some of our favorites. We’re pretty loose with our definition of ‘holiday’ movie, and tried to avoid most of the classics because we know you’ll catch at least a few minutes of A Christmas Story during its 24 hour loop Christmas Day. We’re also not including It’s a Wonderful Life or any claymation flicks because that’s just too obvious. It might just be a movie we love that has a great holiday scene.

The criteria is a little atypical, but so is a film festival held in a small Indiana town that uses a flamingo for its logo.

So, in no particular order, the Middle Coast staff’s favorite holiday…ish films:

Die Hard

Merry Christmas, our gift to you is BRUCE WILLIS IN AN UNDERSHIRT SINGLE HANDEDLY FENDING OFF 12 TERRORISTS THAT KIDNAPPED HIS WIFE WHO ROCKS PERFECTION 1980s HAIR.

Tangerine

We LOVE the 2015 Middle Coast audience favorite award winner, Tangerine, for so many reasons. It was shot on an iPhone, stars transgender women and is getting tons of awards and, fingers crossed, Oscars buzz. It’s the story of Sin-Dee, a working girl who gets out of jail on Christmas Eve and spends the day looking for the woman her boyfriend Chester is cheating on her with. Netflix just released it, so if you missed it at the fest you should watch it there.

Diner

The holiday connection: takes place between Christmas and New Year’s. Why we love it? It’s a fun movie about childhood friends convening in their hometown for a wedding, and reflecting on growing up. Huge bonuses, Kevin Bacon, Mickey Rourke and Steve Guttenberg in their younger years.

Every Harry Potter Movie

Because Christmas looks MAJESTIC AS ALL GET OUT when portrayed in a magical universe on a multi-million dollar budget. Also, this scene taught us so much about British culture.

Jingle All The Way

Arnold Schwarzenegger could play the main character in a movie about Flag Day and it would be hilarious and make every holiday movie list ever.

Blast of Silence

This 1960s film noir classic about a hitman on assignment in NYC is film PRECISION.

The Godfather: Part II

YEA WE KNOW WE’RE WAY TO INTO VIOLENCE AND CHRISTMAS. But you know this is one of the finest films out there, and there’s a Christmas tree in this scene so of course it’s on the list.

Serendipity

Ok, we admit, this movie is a tad cheesy (but at least we didn’t put Love Actually on here). But I figured we could use a break from people shooting each other during the happiest time of the year and maybe two people finding love over a book and leather gloves is exactly what we needed.But admit it, everyone had a crush on Kate Beckinsale (duh) or John Cusack (if you were into alternative dudes in the 80s/90s).

The Apartment

This office Christmas party is bananas! Our inspiration for next year’s festival after parties.

Mixed Nuts

The story of the employees of a crisis hotline at Christmas? The best plot line ever and then you add Steve Martin, so PUT IT ON THE LIST.

Bad Santa

The movie that exactly epitomizes what we think mall Santas are like.

Elf

I mean, this film is the new Christmas classic and on TV all the time, but think back to the first time you watched Will Ferrell demand to meet the real Santa and experience the “best cup of coffee” in the world. It was hilarious.